Are we ready to be fully back yet?

Despite everything we’ve faced over the last year and a half, it looks like we might finally be rounding the corner on this whole thing? (and yes that is a questions mark you see there….)

What does that mean to you personally, well only you can answer that one. Despite what the econ people say, and the health people, and don’t get me started on the political rhetoric people taking up positions surrounding this thing; in the end what this means to you personally is whatever you need it to mean. The buck isn’t being passed here by having said that. Keep in mind that there has been a lot of talk amongst the experts, not to mention media, about what people can expect, and how they should handle the recovery process, but that doesn’t mean you have to follow that advise like it came out of a post-Covid instruction book.

For example, if you still feel safer wearing a mask when you go to the grocery story this summer, then wear one. No one should be judging you for feeling like this is still necessary (now if you’re doing it three years from now too, then we’ll need to talk, but for right now, who cares!?!).

This has been a crazy time for us all. We went from one high anxiety incident, to another, and then back again. As much as we’d all like to get back to “normal” as soon as possible, it really isn’t going to be that easy. The question needs to be asked: “Are we ready to be fully back yet?” The fact that some people say yes, simply because that’s what is going to work best for them doesn’t matter. All of our answers need to count.

The reality is that Covid still isn’t gone. When you hear a reporter talking, in a chipper voice, about how we only had 2500 new cases reported today, that doesn’t mean those 2500 people aren’t sick. Most experts agree that we will be living with this disease for a while yet, and that requires some adaptation on our parts. So, here’s the hard part that no one wants to hear. Life as we knew it pre-2020 isn’t coming back. However, even without Covid, it wasn’t going to be the same life for us in 2025 anyway. True, the changes might not have been as radical, and would have happened without the psychological trauma we’ve all shared, but changes would have occurred anyway. Ironically, without Covid spurring all this hate along, no one would have cussed you out for not wanting to wear the latest earbuds in 2025, yet somehow they feel perfectly justified ridiculing people for sending their kids to schools with masks, or for wearing them in the local Target today.

The bottom line is that people just need to get over themselves. If you’re vaccinated and want to go maskless once it’s legal, then fine. If you don’t, well then simply don’t. What else can we do. The thing that is making this situation worse ultimately, is us. No one can deny that this whole thing has been a giant pain in the you-know-what. That said, there’s no reason for us to continue going at each other in the way we’ve been doing, and making the situation worse. As long as people are taking responsible steps, and moving forward at a pace they can handle, then let them. Just don’t be the that guy, holding the whole healing process up by still pretending that none of this mattered, or wasn’t real to begin with. Playtime is over, and it’s time to get serious about the road ahead. Join us if you can, an any pace you feel appropriate. The important thing is that we all get there in the end.